134 Water- and Feed-Based Arginine Impacts on Gut Integrity in Weanling Pigs

Two hundred and forty newly weaned pigs (PIC, Hendersonville, TN) were used to determine if supplementing with additional arginine either in the water or in the feed, and the combinations thereof, improved intestinal integrity and growth performance in the nursery. Three pigs (21 ± 2 d) per pen for a total of 80 pens, within 4 water lines, were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 arginine-dietary treatments across the 20 pens for a 4×3 factorial. With 4 water treatments: 0, 4, 8 and 12% Arg and 3 dietary treatments: basal level, 1.55 and 1.75% SID Arg. Pigs and feeders were weighed at the d0, d7 (water and diet change), d21 (diet change), and d41. Eighty pigs were euthanized at d7, for ileum evaluation of villus height and crypt depth. Remaining pigs were then taken off the arginine-water treatment portion of the experiment, and fed the diets formulated to contain 3 different levels of dietary arginine. Data were analyzed by pen as repeated measures (SAS 9.4). Feeding additional arginine resulted in an improvement (basal: 20.35, 1.55: 22.22, 1.75: 20.93 kg; P = 0.04) in pig body weight compared with basal. No interaction was detected when using arginine in the water and feed simultaneously, on piglet performance. The use of 8% arginine in the water resulted in a reduction in crypt depth (0:132.54, 4:140.70, 8:117.28, 12:131.99; P < 0.01) and 4% Arg reduced total villous height:crypt depth ratio (0:2.50, 4:2.09, 8:2.56, 12:2.43; P < 0.02). The feeding of arginine resulted in an improvement in final body weight of the pigs; however, there were no differences in intestinal villi when Arg is added to the feed. However, the use of Arg in the water resulted in an improvement in intestinal villi, but no phenotypical change in piglet growth in the nursery.